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This PhD work arises from the necessity to give a contribution to the energy saving field, regarding automotive applications. The aim was to produce a multidisciplinary work to show how much important is to consider different aspects of an electric car realization: from innovative materials to cutting-edge battery thermal management systems (BTMSs), also dealing with the life cycle assessment (LCA) of the battery packs (BPs). Regarding the materials, it has been chosen to focus on carbon fiber composites as their use allows realizing light products with great mechanical properties. Processes and methods to produce carbon fiber goods have been analysed with a special attention on the university solar car Emilia 4. The work proceeds dealing with the common BTMSs on the market (air-cooled, cooling plates, heat pipes) and then it deepens some of the most innovative systems such as the PCM-based BTMSs after a previous experimental campaign to characterize the PCMs. After that, a complex experimental campaign regarding the PCM-based BTMSs has been carried on, considering both uninsulated and insulated systems. About the first category the tested systems have been pure PCM-based and copper-foam-loaded-PCM-based BTMSs; the insulated tested systems have been pure PCM-based and copper-foam-loaded-PCM-based BTMSs and both of these systems equipped with a liquid cooling circuit. The choice of lighter building materials and the optimization of the BTMS are strategies which helps in reducing the energy consumption, considering both the energy required by the car to move and the BP state of health (SOH). Focusing on this last factor, a clear explanation regarding the importance of taking care about the SOH is given by the analysis of a BP production energy consumption. This is why a final dissertation about the life cycle assessment (LCA) of a BP unit has been presented in this thesis.

This dataset contains the observations of air quality collected within one experimental campaign conducted in August 2018 at Lazzaretto campus of the University of Bologna to verify the effectiveness of photocatalytic coatings in reducing pollutant concentrations. The dataset also contains the meteorological data collected during non-synoptic periods, representing the ideal condition to assess the behavior of the local circulation and turbulence. This experimental field campaign was conducted under WP3 (“Planning and evaluation of PCS solutions”) of the iSCAPE project. Briefly, two parallel street canyons were instrumented for measurements of meteorology and turbulence variables at two height levels, while pollutant concentrations were monitored at ground level inside both canyons. After a first period of parallel contemporary measurements to verify the presence of intrinsic differences between the two canyons, one of the two canyons (Canyon A) was painted with photocatalytic coatings, while the other (Canyon B) was left untouched and used as reference canyon. This dataset is linked to the paper “The effect of photocatalytic coatings on NOx concentrations in real-world street canyons” by Brattich E. et al., which has been submitted for publication on “Science of the Total Environment” edited by Elsevier. If you use this dataset for your research or work purposes, we ask that you acknowledge us in the use of your data, which can be done by including a proper citation in any documents or publications using these data.

This dataset contains the observations of air quality collected within two experimental campaigns conducted in summer 2017 (07 August 2017-26 September 2017) and winter 2018 (15 January 2018-15 February 2018) in two street canyons in the city of Bologna, to verify the effectiveness of vegetation in altering ventilation levels and pollutant concentration in real-world street canyons. The dataset also contains the meteorological data collected during non-synoptic periods, representing the ideal condition to assess the behavior of the local circulation and turbulence. The experimental field campaigns were setup under WP3 (“Planning and evaluation of PCS solutions”) and conducted under WP5 (“Monitoring and Evaluation of the Interventions”) of the iSCAPE project. Briefly, two parallel urban street canyons characterized by a different occurrence of vegetation, i.e. one almost free of vegetation (Marconi St.) and one with a tree line along both sides of the street (Laura Bassi St.), were instrumented for measurements of meteorology and turbulence variables at three height levels, while pollutant concentrations were monitored at ground level inside both canyons. This dataset is linked to the paper “Disentangling the effect of vegetation on ventilation and air quality in urban street canyons: the Bologna iSCAPE experimental campaigns” by Di Sabatino et al., which will be submitted for publication on “Science of the Total Environment” edited by Elsevier, and to the paper “Characteristic Scales for Turbulent Exchange Processes in a Real Urban Canopy” by Barbano et al., which is under review for publication on “Boundary-Layer Meteorology” edited by Springer. If you use this dataset for your research or work purposes, we ask that you acknowledge us in the use of your data, which can be done by including a proper citation in any documents or publications using these data.